Friday, 7 March 2014

ICC convicts DR Congo warlord Germain Katanga for war crimes

Former Congolese warlord militiaman Germain Katanga sitting in the
courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court on Friday convicted Congolese
ex-militia boss Germain Katanga of being an accessory to war crimes and
crimes against humanity for a 2003 village massacre.

"The
chamber by majority finds Germain Katanga guilty... of complicity in
the crimes committed on February 24, 2003," said judge Bruno Cotte.

Katanga was convicted of murder and pillaging but cleared of rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers in the attack.

The
court will sentence Katanga, the one-time commander of the ethnic-based
Patriotic Resistance Forces in Ituri (FRPI) operating in the DR Congo's
mineral-rich northeast, at another hearing.

The
verdict was only the ICC's third since opening its doors more than a
decade ago, and the first involving sexual violence charges.

Katanga,
35, went on trial more than four years ago facing seven counts of war
crimes and three of crimes against humanity, including murder, sexual
slavery and rape for his alleged role in the attack on the small village
of Bogoro in 2003.